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Water Treatment Plant Design: Clear Well Sedimentation
Water Treatment Plant Design: Clear Well Sedimentation
Water Treatment Plant Design: Clear Well Sedimentation
alum
Sedimentation
Clear Well
Flocculation
Monroe L. Weber-Shirk
Overview
Safety
Competition guidelines
Trouble shooting guide
Hydraulic challenges
Surface tension
Startup requirements
Rapid Mix/Flocculation/Sedimentation
Parting Pointers
Laboratory Safety
Safety hazards
Electrical
Chemical
Aluminum Sulfate (alum)
Buddy System
Dont go into any other areas of the environmental
laboratory
Professional behavior
PPE: Safety glasses, lab coat
Project Expectations
Spend at least 4 hours per week working on WTP
outside of class
Keep an Excel time sheet (time in, time out, task,
and weekly totals) for each of you (email weekly
on Thursday to Jeff)
Work together as a team and divide up tasks
Spend time teaching each other what you are
learning
Professional Play! (Have fun!)
Team Work
Think efficiency
You cant all work on the same thing!
Compare your team work to soccer players
Dont bunch up!
Give each other permission to experiment with
the plant
TAs will measure the flow rates and the turbidity several
times per day and email results to the class
Economics
Capital costs
Cost of building the various components
building
Controls and sensors
Competition Economics
We will only include the costs for the processes
that you can control
The costs will be scaled as if your plant were full
scale
Otherwise the computer, data acquisition system,
and control hardware would completely dominate
the cost!
The clear well and the flow accumulator will not
be included in the economics
cost
8000
90
20
30
5000
2500
2000
20
unit
$/m2
$/m3
$/m3
$/m3
$/m3
$/m3
$/m3
$/m2
Scientific Method of
Troubleshooting
The Scientific method:
Clearly identify the problem
Create hypotheses
Design experiments to test the hypotheses
Draw conclusions based on the data
Modular Approach
How can you build a complex system with the
greatest probability of ultimate success?
Break a system down into its components and test
individual pieces
Only add components to the system after the
components have been tested
Begin with the system as simple as possible
What would the simplest operating rules be?
Add unit processes one by one
State Machines
What are the potential states for your water
filtration plant?
Off
Down flow
Backwash
Media settle
Filter to Waste
1
u ( t ) =K c e +
TI
De
e Dt +TD Dt
Hydraulic Challenges
(getting the water to go where you want it to go)
Leaks
Connections not sufficiently tight
Improvised connections lacking a good seal
Overflows
Caused by water not going where you thought it was
going
Open channel flows (air and water) coming up
Sedimentation
Flocculation
Clear Well
Improved WTP
Why is this
better?
Max head loss?
How could you
measure head
loss through the
filter?
Flocculation
Clear Well
Surface tension
Gravity
Fg =r gl 3
0.080
0.075
0.070
0.065
0.060
0.055
0.050
0
20
40
60
80 100
Temperature (C)
Fs =s l
Stable*
Unstable
Turn off the manual supply valve when you arent using
the plant
Make sure that all solenoid valves are off when the plant
isnt being used.
WTP
Plant Layout
Design a plant layout that is easy to follow
Tubing lengths can be changed so you can
place your devices anywhere you want
them
Beware of large diameter horizontal tubes
containing particles
Why?
WTP
Startup Requirements
Stamp module must be on the computer side of the
bench divider
Must prove that excessive head loss will cause the
filter to backwash before causing a flood!
Must show that backwash wont empty clear well
Must show that the plant switches between states
correctly
Pointers
Pressure sensors must be kept dry (they can fail if
one drop of water soaks into the terminals)
Use manual valves to make it easy to drain tanks
Make sure you are using the most recent method
file in your folder!
Save a new version of the method file every time
you make changes
Label all processes
Label the alum stock bottle
Label all containers containing fluids
Operating Criteria
Initial down flow rate of 5 m/h (40 ml/min)
If you increase the down flow rate make absolutely sure
that the plant doesnt overflow
Rapid Mixing
Goal?
Excellent
Coagulant
flat-blade impeller
Inflow
Chemical
feeding
Chemical
feeding
Inflow
Flocculation Design
Goal: produce large flocs from tiny particles
Collision Mechanism:
SHEAR
d2
L
d 2L
4
Q
Q
4Q
d 2 L 64Q 16 L
G
3
4Q 3 d
3 d
3 dG
L
16
Gmax
32Q
d3
Sedimentation Tank
Up flow through a sludge blanket at 50 m/day can
create excellent quality water
Additional flocculation occurs in the sludge
blanket
Lamella might increase particle capture
Lamella spacing must be larger than the flocs you
are trying to capture
You can save money by making this as small as
possible
Good Engineering?
How would you approach this task as a
Cornell engineer in a way that is different
then how you would approach it in
elementary school?
How do you learn about the physical world?
Competition Submission
Submit 5 copies by 5 pm on Thursday (May 5).
Executive Summary
A one page cover letter to the judges where you introduce your design
firm, identify the members of your design team, and describe the
important features of your water treatment plant.
Parting Pointers
Hydraulics: water flows from higher
potential energy to lower potential energy
Leaks: fix them right away, clean up all
spills immediately, keep bench dry, sensors
and controls die when wet!
Save incremental versions of process
control method whenever you make
changes